Plus Size Fashion: Great Places to Fulfill Your Retail Therapy Needs.

As a Plus Woman, I used to find it really hard to find cute affordable clothes. The clothes were either trendy, cute, and expensive, or affordable and resemble a potato sack. In the recent years, a lot more online and physical stores that have opened for Plus-Size Women, and preexistent stores such as Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and Old Navy, have expanded their sizes to accommodate us women who have an hourglass shape with a few extra minutes. I have had the pleasure to try a few of these places, and I want to share my experiences, good and bad, with these stores.

Let’s get started!

Forever 21:

Forever 21 used to be a store that I passed countless times because I just knew they didn’t have anything in there that would fit me. Originally launching their Plus-Size Sections in 2009, I didn’t buy anything from there until 2012 and to be honest I was very disappointed. The cuts were weird and very straight, and nothing seems true to size. I returned multiple items giving third and fourth chances and decide to leave them alone for the time being. Around my senior year of high school in 2014, I watched a Plus-Size fashion Haul from a YouTube I liked at the time and she was raving about how much she loved her clothes from Forever 21, and I was skeptical because of my previous experience, but because the YouTuber and I had similar body types I tried Forever 21 one more time. And let me tell you, it was the best decision of my life!

I don’t know if Forever 21 reevaluated their Plus clothing and realized it wasn’t up to par, and honestly, I don’t care what happened, I’m just happy. I love Forever 21 so much that over half of the clothes in my wardrobe is from there (and I even worked there for a little while). Yeah, there have been a few items I haven’t been particularly happy with because of the cut or sizing, but that’s usually every 1 to 20 items I buy when I step foot in Forever 21.

REBDOLLS:

You know when you see advertisements on social media for different stores and you just skip through/ scroll pass them? Well, I do it always, but this one time, in particular, something told me to check it out (God?).

REBDOLLS right now is my third favorite, and yes I rank my stores, store right now! It was strictly online, unto recently when they opened up their first physical store in New York! And yes, I am jealous of the New Yorkians for this reason. Their size inclusiveness is amazing ranging from sizes 0-5x. And one thing I love about them is that they make all of their products in those sizes! Sometimes when you shop in other stores that have plus size sections, their clothes aren’t always as cute as the clothes in the smaller sizes, but everyone is able to wear all of REBDOLLS cute clothes!

The quality of their clothes is amazing! I have some pieces form them that are in heavy rotation when it comes to outfits and they’re still holding up! And you can literally shop there for any event. I buy legging that I’ll wear weekly from here, but I have also bought special occasion dresses that I needed, like the two-piece velvet outfit pictured above, as well.

And the best part about hem….the clothes have always arrived in the mail before its estimated delivery date!

Torrid:

Torrid has been around for years, and thought it’s not known to be “affordable”, it’s still one of my favorite places ever! I’m a faithful platinum card member!

Out of all the places in this article, they have THE best quality clothes…period. And that why I think they’re a little bit more expensive. But let me tell you, their clearance is always pooping, and it almost always by one get tow free! To me, they are one of the pioneer stores for Plus-Size fashion, and they deserve all the respect because they have definitely earned it!

My favorite pieces to get from here will always be legging! They’re thick enough to wear as pants, always have the tummy control feature, and they last for like ever!

So when you have the funds stop by Torrid, or at least their Clearance section.

Thrifting:

I wouldn’t say I’m an expert at thrifting, but I have found some gems while tagging along with my Father. I never really thought about thrifting clothes until one day my dad took me with him, and let me tell you, it changed my life! I’m from Savannah, and a lot of the thrift stores there actually have a section for Plus-Size Women and Men, and I check them out every time I’m there! So next time you’re in thrift place, don’t think there isn’t anything in there for you love!

The Others:

Places like Old Navy, It’s Fashion/Citi Trends, and even Amazon, have been places that have contributed beautiful places to my closet as well. I just started actively buying clothes from Amazon (the white dress pictured above) and I haven’t been disappointed yet! Just read the reviews and the measurements and you should be good.

Old Navy has contributed a lot of shirt and t-shirt dresses to my closet, and as soon as the weather is warm enough, they’ll be back in heavy rotation. The fit is great and always flowy, which is good!

Somewhere in the hood in the city you live in, there is an It’s Fashion, Citi Trends, or something like it. Don’t sleep on those stores! Every other outfit pictured in the collage above has come from an It’s’ fashion or a Citi Trends, They really have the hidden gems, you just have to look past all the shirts with “Baby Girl” written across it in big gold sparkly letters!

I hope this help my fellow beautiful Plus-Size Ladies with new places or place they could second chances to shop at! There are plenty of Trendy and Fashionable clothes out there for us to wear, and we don’t even have to search hard like we did before!

Ketorah is a First Year Sociology Graduate Student at Valdosta State University. Ketorah loves to watch WWE, The Walking Dead, and Broad City. She also enjoys being a room with nothing but music playing, new and old. When she’s not doing that, you can catch her playing her PS4, and talking on the phone with her family and friends. Post-graduation, she plans to pursue a career in Victim Services, and plans to open up her own Non-Profit Organization for ALL Victims of crimes, such as domestic and sexual abuse.